US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who is on a visit to the Palestinian territories, said on Tuesday that the US administration supports a lasting ceasefire in the Middle East but not an urgent one.

Rice made the remarks during a brief joint news conference with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas after nearly two-hour meeting at Abbas' office in the West Bank city of Ramallah.

She urged all parties concerned to find a suitable way to a ceasefire to end the security deterioration in the region, but she underscored that the ceasefire must be reached in a way that secures the sovereignty of Lebanon and implementation of the UN Resolution 1959.

She also voiced concerns over what is happening on Palestine, Lebanon and Israel, saying that "the Palestinian people and civilians of Lebanon and Israel are innocent."

Rice said that the U.S. and the Palestinian National Authority(PNA) had a joint vision to create two states for the Israelis and the Palestinians.

Rice arrived in Ramallah on Tuesday after she wrapped up her visits in Lebanon and Israel.

For his part, Abbas promised to exert efforts to secure the release of the captive Israeli soldier, who has been held hostage by Palestinian militants since June 25.

However, he reminded Israel and the world to consider the suffering of 10,000 Palestinian families which have sons jailed in Israel.

Israel has launched a large-scale offensive into the Gaza Strip in the wake of the capture of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit by three Palestinian militant groups on June 25 in a cross-border raid against an Israeli army base southeast of the Gaza-Israel border.

The militant groups conditioned the return of the captive soldier on the release of Palestinian junior and women prisoners jailed in Israel, which was rejected by the Israeli government.

Not long after the seizure of Israeli soldier by the Palestinian militant groups, Lebanese Shiite group Hezbollah also captured two Israeli soldiers in a cross-border raid on July 12. Lebanon has been targeted by Israeli military offensive since then.